Chapter 6

Lost

Fanta quickly paced down the hall and turned several corners until she could see that know one was around. She paused for a moment; listening out for anyone who could be around. There was no one. She could finally let her excitement out. "Yeeee!" she squealed, shaking her fists in front of her face as if she were banging them together. She grinned from ear to ear. "I got to hug Wilt!" she announced to herself in the same high pitched squeal as her first outburst. She felt so excited. She knew there wasn't anything romantic about it. How could there be? He was just comforting her, but she was happy none the less. She began to dance a little from side to side. "Yay!" she rejoiced quietly.

"So." began a voice. "We got a little one on one time with Wilt, did we?" said the voice casually, in a teasing tone.

Fanta turned around to discover the source of the sound. It was Bloo. "Are there, like, secret passage ways you take around the house just to find me and tease me?" she asked, half jokingly.

"None as far as you know." He replied; also half jokingly. "You know," he began, with a suspiciously innocent tone to his voice, "I could tell Wilt how you feel if you'd like." He offered, smiling sweetly.

"No, Bloo." She said bluntly.

"Aw! Come on!" he pleaded. "Wilt's a nice guy. He won't avoid you."

"Isn't telling Mac enough for you?"

"But I haven't told him yet!" He whined.

"Why not?" Fanta was curious.

"'Cause he isn't here yet. He has school today." Answered Bloo, as if it were obvious.

"Well I'm sure you can wait 'til he gets here."

"Come on!" He began whining again. "Just let me tell him!"

"No Bloo." She said firmly as she began to walk further down the hall; as she felt like exploring the house some more. She had already missed breakfast and lunch wasn't for several hours yet, so she had time.

"Fine. I won't tell him." Said Bloo in a pout.

"Thankyou!" She chimed, failing Bloo's attempt at reverse psychology. She continued to walk down the hall, turning left. Then right. Then right again. On her way through the house she looked at all the doors she was passing and all the pictures that hung on the wall. She then walked down a hall that he never come across before. Fanta continued to follow it for several minutes; then realised it was no different from any of the other halls. Okay. I'm bored of exploring now… She thought to herself. So she walked back down the way she came.

She took the same turns she remembered taking before, and eventually found her way back to the other hallway. Or so it seemed anyhow. It was the other hallway, right? It looked a bit different somehow. She walked around for a while, continuing to take the same route she took before. When it came to the second corner that she needed to turn, there was a dead end where it should've been. "Great," she said to herself. "I'm lost." She let out a hefty sigh as a sign of her frustration, and continued to venture down the halls, looking at the doors and pictures as she went, hoping to find something familiar.

* * *

It's had been about and hour and a half now, and Fanta was still as lost as ever. All the halls looked the same. Even the doors where beginning to look identical. Wasn't anyone wondering where she was? I'm sure they'll send someone out to look for me soon, she thought to herself, when suddenly an idea came to mind.

"Oh, I have a massive crush on Wilt." she said loudly with even spaces between each word, "I am so glad Bloo isn't here to here this." She paused. Waiting. No sign of Bloo. "Oh, I think he is so handsome and… and nice… and more! But I will never tell Bloo exactly what I find attractive about Wilt." She paused again. Still no sign of Bloo. Then she realised; what if Wilt heard all this? She blushed. That's way too embarrassing… She thought. So she stopped trying to get Bloo to appear, it was too risky. If Bloo wouldn't even appear to taunt her, then she was well and truly lost.

* * *

Another hour had passed. Fanta's feet were beginning to hurt, so she sat down. Lunch was going to be served soon. She waited quietly. Maybe someone was looking for her? Even if they weren't, there were no cobwebs in the corners and the floor was clean. If she sat in one place maybe someone would come across her. Or her skeleton. Maybe that's why there were no cobwebs here. The spiders are dead. They got lost and died here too. Fanta felt the urge to cry. "I'm gonna die here!" she whined to herself. "I'm going to die here and forever haunt these halls…" Fanta then paused for a moment. What if she wasn't the first? She curled up in a ball and looked around. Ghosts are gonna get me… she thought, scaring herself more. She then looked up at the ceiling and relaxed a little, No, wait. There are light bulbs here. People would come here to change them, right? She felt a bit better knowing that all hope wasn't lost. She got up and began to walk the halls again. She had only paced a few metres when she heard her stomach growl. She paused for a moment. "I'm hungie." she whimpered.

"Lunch will now be served in the dinning hall." announced Mr. Herriman over the intercom.

"Aw, man! Now I have to miss out on lunch too!" she complained. Fanta paused for a moment. She tried burying her frustration; it wasn't going to help her get out of this situation. "What a day…" she sighed. Then she realised that people might be passing through the halls to go to lunch. This gave her an idea.

"Hello!" she began to shout. "I'm lost here!" She paused, waiting for a response. Nothing. "Hello! Anybody?" Still nothing. "Can anybody here me? I've been here for hours!" Nobody answered. Fanta felt really frustrated. Her feet were sore and she was hungry. "THESE HALLS ARE STUPID!!!" she shouted out, releasing some of her frustration. Her words echoed down the halls, however, they triggered no response. She was all alone. What were these rooms used for, anyway? She continued to walk down the hall, she hoped that someone would come across her soon.

* * *

It had been another two hours. Fanta wanted to cry. No one had found her yet. Were they even looking? She kept her pace. I'm sure if I keep walking I'll end up somewhere, she thought. Even though it's been about four and a half hours now…. she continued to sing the hallway song she made up and hour ago, to the tune of 'I've been working on the railroad'.

"I've been walking through the hallways,

For the whole, damn day~.

I've been walking through the hallways,

And I've seem to have lost my way~.

I see the doors and pictures pass by,

But to me they look the same~.

I hope that someone comes and finds me,

'Cause it is getting late!~"

"One more time!" she shouted to herself. And began to sing her verse once again. She was half way through her verse when suddenly she heard a voice.

"There you are! Man! We've been looking for you for hours, you know that?"

Fanta turned her head to face the voice. It was Bloo. She had never been so glad to see him. She quickly raced over and hugged Bloo. She was so happy to not be all by herself anymore. "Do you know the way back?" She asked, still hugging him.

Bloo struggled for a moment, "Can't… breathe… organs… failing…"

Fanta released him, she didn't realise she was hugging him so tightly. "Sorry, Bloo." she apologised.

Bloo took a breath, trying to recover from the hug. "Of course I know the way back!" he replied confidently, "Just follow me." He lead Fanta down a series of halls, down a flight of stairs, around a few corners and down another flight of stairs until they reached the top of the stairs before the main entrance to the house. She could see downstairs that Coco, Wilt and Eduardo had just returned from looking for her, and were glad to see that Bloo had found her.

She ran down the stairs and fell open armed on to the ground before them. "FAMILIARITY!" she rejoiced. She was glad to be out of those halls. The group gave her strange looks as she hugged the floor. She got up off the ground and dusted off her dress. "I'm never gonna explore through this place again. Not unless someone's with me." she vowed.

Eduardo approached her with something in his hand. A GPS system, perhaps? "Here. I saved you a sandwich from lunch! Wilt told me not to get white bread because it makes you sick. It's ham and cheese." He said with a smile, pleased that he had done something nice. Fanta looked at the sandwich in his hand. It was very squashed, but wrapped in plastic wrap, so it was still edible. Fanta looked up at Eduardo, and then Wilt. She smiled slightly. He smiled back.

"Sorry. I squashed it a little." Apologised Eduardo, drawing her attention back to him.

"Its okay, Eduardo." She said kindly. "Thankyou for saving me this sandwich. I'm so hungry!" She gladly took the sandwich from Eduardo, unwrapped it, and began to eat.